For the second consecutive edition, Onyx Solar has participated in the European version of this prestigious international competition that promotes research in the development of efficient houses.
Solar Decathlon Europe 2012 is held in Madrid (Spain) and it brings together 20 proposals from 15 different countries to design and build solar-powered houses that consume as few natural resources as possible and produce minimum waste products during their life cycle.
Onyx Solar, along with CEU-Cardenal Herrera University team, participates in the competition with the SMLsystem house, where has been integrated two cutting-edge photovoltaic systems: a PV façade based on CIGS technology and a PV walkable floor (patented by Onyx Solar) that supply free and clean electricity to this self-sufficient house.
This is the second time that both organizations join to success in this competition. In 2010, the sustainable house designed by them was awarded "Market & Industrial Viability 1st Prize" as a result of the support of more than 200,000 visitors.
SMLsystem house is based on that design but some innovative solutions have been added to that model. Technologies such as the PV walkable floor enable to harvest energy from the sun in an unimaginable way not long ago - each tile provides the equivalent of 6 hours of light to an incandescent light bulb - which turns the zero-energy building idea into reality.
The final outcome is an overwhelming combination of noble materials and top notch technology that wraps up not only a sustainable but also a realistic house project. Indeed, it is the most cost-effective house in competition and one of the best performing in terms of optimal energy production, design excellence and consumer appeal. All of that makes the SMLsystem project one of the favorite candidates to win Solar Decathlon 2012.
About Solar Decathlon
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is an international competition that challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production.
The event has a twofold purpose: educative and scientific. On the one hand, the public can see and becomes aware of the real possibilities of reducing the environmental impact and at the same time keeping the comfort and quality of the design in their homes. On the other hand, professionals have access to techniques and processes that they can study and use.
In the competition taking place in September 2012 in Madrid (Spain), there will be twenty proposals from 15 different countries, eleven of which will come from Europe - Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, The United Kingdom and Romania - and four more from China, Japan, Brazil and Egypt.
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About Onyx Solar
Worldwide leader in BIPV solutions for energy-efficient buildings, replaces conventional construction materials for photovoltaic multifunctional solutions that enable the building to produce energy, enhancing energy-efficiency performance and reducing CO2 emissions considerably.
Based in New York, it´s a global company with offices in Spain and Colombia as well, and has already completed projects in France, Italy, Spain, China and the United States. It is a company committed to the Environment and with a strong belief in innovation that has led it to be a reference point in BIPV sector (Building Integrated Photovoltaics).
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